Tractor and steerable support therefor



June 13, 1950 1'. BROWN 2,511,692

TRACTOR AND STEERABLE SUPPORT mREFoR June 13, 1950 T. BROWN 2,511,692

TRACTOR AND STEERABLE SUPPORT THEREFOR June 13, 1950 T. BROWN 2,511,692

TRACTOR AND STEERABLE SUPPORT THEREFOR Filed Aug. 6, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet5 FIG. 5

o 70/75 |03 lst-)I34 los losa|08 22 O9 |08 n |`1 Y 2l BQ- 04 so '60 '33|32 lso so 92 INVEN Patented `lune 13, 195() TRACTOR AND STEERABLESUPPORT THEREFOR Theophilus Brown, Moline, lll., assignor to Deere &Company, Moline, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application August 6,1945, Serial N o. 609,047

4 Claims.

The present invention relates generally to tractors, and has for itsprincipal object the provision of a novel and improved general purposetractor intended especially for farm use.

The conventional general purpose farm tractor is provided with alongitudinally extending body on which means are provided for supportingimplements associated with the tractor. The body is carried on a pair oflaterally spaced rear traction wheels and a dirigible truck mounted atthe lforward end of the body. This is a completely satisfactoryarrangement for certain purposes, such as for cultivating two crop rowssimultaneously, in which case the rear traction wheels are spaced apartsufficiently to straddle two rows of crops, while the front dirigibletruck is mounted on either a single wheel or a pair of closely spacedwheels which travel between the two rows of crops', and the two sets ofcultivating tools are supported along opposite sides of the tractorbody, respectively, adjacent the dirigible wheeled truck, thus providingfor accurately guiding the cultivating tools along the crop rows by thesteering mechanism of the tractor.

For some other purposes, however, it is more desirable to have thedirigible truck in the rear of the traction wheels. This arrangement isobtainable by driving the tractor backwards with an implement mountedahead of the tractor, such as, for example, a harvester platform orother crop gathering device. This arrangement provides for turningsquare corners, permitting the tractor and harvesting implement to driveinto the corner of a field and turn a square corner along the fence. Itis rather difficult, however, to drive a tractor backwards in thisfashion, although arrangements have been proposed in the past forreversing the operators seat and controls to permit the operator to sitin a normal position while driving the tractor in reverse, andadditional transmission gears are provided for obtaining the normalforward speed ratios with the tractor running backwards. This type ofarrangement, however, requires considerable rebuilding of the tractorand it is not convenient to change the tractor arrangement from normaloperation to reverse operation and vice versa.

Therefore, one of the principal objects of the present invention relatesto the provision of a tractor which can be readily converted from atractor with dirigible wheels ahead of the traction wheels to a tractorhaving driglble wheels behind the traction wheels, and vice versa.

2 More specifically, it is an object of my invention to perform thisconversion without the necessity for elaborate changes in the powertransmission and control'mechanism.

In the accomplishment of this object, I have provided a tractor having apower plant located substantially centrally with respect to the tractionwheels in generally balanced relation to the axis thereof, and alongitudinally extending frame which extends fore and aft from the axisof the traction wheels, with a dirigible wheeled truck which can bereadily attached to either end of the longitudinal frame. Thisarrangement has the advantage that the weight of the tractor andoperator is lconcentrated mainly on` the rear traction wheels, which areeasily provided with tires having sucient capacity to support thisweight, thereby providing suflicient weight on the wheels to obtainample tractive effort without the use of additional wheel weights orwithout the necessity for filling the pneumatic tires with liquid forweighting the same, and at the same time relieving the front wheels ofthe weight of the tractor, thereby to make available additional weightcarrying capacity of the dirgible truck. This is important in the caseof those implements which are large and heavy but which must :besupported to a large extent,

upon the dirigible truck, such as, for example, sweep rakes, manureloaders, corn pickers, etc. Although this type of arrangement leaves thedirigible truck with too little load thereon for convenient operationwhen no implement is carried by the tractor, this can be readily takencare of by weighting the dirigible truck when it is desired to operatethe tractor without an implement mounted on the -forward part thereof.

Another object relates to the provision oi1 means for mounting thedirigible truck on either end of the longitudinal tractor frame for foreand aft adjustment thereof relative to the traction wheels. Thisprovides for changing the wheel base of the tractor between a shortwheel base which provides for flexible maneuvering -of the tractor andmaking short radius turns, and a long wheel base which provides ampleroom between the dirigible truck and the tractor engine for receivingcertain implements adapted to be mounted in this position, such as, foreX ample, cultivating tools, cotton harvesting implements, plantingimplements, and the like. It is a feature of the present invention thatthe fore and aft adjustment of the dirigible truck can fbe made with thelatter either ahead of the traction wheels or behind the tractionwheels.

In the accomplishment of these objects, the frame of the tractor is madeup of a pair of parallel tubular members extending longitudinally aheadof and behind the axis of the traction wheels. The dirigible truck ismounted on a pair of laterally spaced members which are adapted to beinserted into either the front or rear end of the tubular members intelescoping relation. The tractor wheel base is thus adjustable byextending or contracting the telescoping frame members. y i

Still another object relates vto the 'p'i'yi'sin of a novel and improvedunstable traction element which can be readily connected to any ofseveral implements having dirig'ible wheeled truck supports. Stillanother object relates to the provision of a traction unit whichhas'great lateral stability by virtue of the low mounting of the powerunit on the frame. A related object has to do with the provision of acompact arrangement of the power unit in which the operators seat andfuel tank are disposed above the transmission housing Ajust behind theengine, with the radiator disposed immediately behind the tractor seat.

Another object relates to the provision of two different dirig'ibletrucks having widely spaced and closely spaced wheels, respectively,which can be optionally mounted on either end of the tractor frame.

These and other objects andadvantages' of my invention will be apparentto those skilled in the art, 'after a consideration of the followingde'- scription; in 'which reference is had to the drawings appendedhereto, in which Figure -l is a side elevational view of a tractorembodying the principles of the present inVen'- tion, withthe neartraction wheel removed to expose the details of the traction unit, anda. portion of the gear case broken away to 'show the drive mechanism? lFigure 2 is a top plan view of the tractor;

Figure s is a fragmentarytop 'pian drawn to a larger scale, showing thefce'nt'ral vportion of the body of the tractor, with 'the p'eratorsseat, fuel tank, and radiator cut away to show the means for mountingthe power plant on lthe tractor frame;

Figure 4' is a sectional elevational Vview taken substantially along aline 4-4 in Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a side elevational view, similar to Figure l but drawn to asmaller scale, showing the tractor asused for cultivating, with thewheel base elongated-g and Figure 6 is a side elevational view, similarto Figure l., but with the dirigible wheeled truck mounted on the rearend of the fra-me rather than on the forward end of the frame.

Referring now to the drawings, and more par; ticularly to Figures -1-=4,inclusive, the tractor comprises a longitudinally extending bodyincluding a frame 2l comprising a pair of laterally spacedlongitudinally extending, parallel tu'- bular members "or frame'elements 22, which carry therebetween a power plant and tractionunit-23, comprising an internal combustion engine 24 with a transmission'gear casing 25 rigidly secured thereto. This unit is mounted on theparallel frame members -22 by means of a support member in the form of aCasting 26 having a pair of tubular 'sleeve portions 2'! receiving thetubular frame members 22 'and interconnected by a transverse web '28.Thesl'eeve portions 21 are securely xed to the parallel frame members 22as by welding or other suitable means. The

Casting 26 also includes a pair of gear housing portions 29 disposed onopposite sides of the frame members 21, respectively, and preferably 5formed integrally with the support casting 26.

The gear housing portions 29 open outwardly and are covered by theoutwardly flaring inner ends of 'a pair of axle housings 30,respectively, the latter being provided with flanges 3| which aresecured by bolts 32 to the annular rims 33 of the gear housings 29.

A pair -of drive axles 35 are journaled in the axle housings 30,respectively, on laterally spaced bearings 36, '3 1, the inner bearings31 being supported in radially extending Walls 38, as best shown inFigure 4. The axles 35 project outwardly beyond the outer ends of theaxle housings 33 and carry a pair of traction wheels 39, respectively,which are mounted thereon by any conventional means (not shown), theouter ends of the axles beingsplined, indicated at 40. for the purposeof lateral adjustment of the wheels' 39 with respect to the axles 35, aswell known to those 'skilled in the art. Each of the axles 35 isprovided 'at its inner end with a sprocket gear 4I, which has a hubv 42suitably keyed to the shaft 35 and secured thereto by a nut 43 engagingthe inner end of the axle 35, which is threaded for this purpose.

30 noch of the sprockets al is connected by a drive chain 45 with adrive vsprocket 46 l(see Figure l) mounted on a dierential drive shaft41. The two drive sprockets at are enclosed in laterally oppositelydisposed. enclosures 48 on the opposite sides of the transmissionhousing y25,

the differential shafts 4l being 'in axial alignment and connected tosuitable dilerential drive mechanism l(not shown) disposed within thetransmission housing 25. The enclosures 4'8 are adapted to registerwithv rearwardly extending chain housing portions 49 in the sprocketgear casin'gs 29 -and are secured thereto by suitable bolts 50. Thus,the engine 24 drives the two 1g drive axles 35 through the transmissionmechanisrn within the casing f2/5, the dilerential shafts 4l, the drivesprockets 46, and the drive chains 45 which are trained over thesprockets 4l,A re-` spectively. Figure 4 shows the flywheel 55 of 50 theengine enclosed. with -a clutch housing 56 which is part of thetransmission housing 25, and a clutch plate 51 of a conventional clutchwhich drives the transmission shaft 58'. A gear selecting lever 59 ismounted on the top of the transmission housing 25 and' extends upwardlybetween the frame lmembers 22 an'd inclined outwardly from undefr vtheoperators seat 60 to -a point conveniently accessible to the opera-toron the seat 60.

60 The operators platform 6|/ is vdisposed 'over the engine just aheadof the operators seat B0, with the upper portion of the engine 24projecting through an openingin the platform. In thema te'rest ofsimplicity, the clutch pedal and its connections as well -as thedifferential brake control p'ed'als and other controls 'of the tractor'are omitted inasmuch as they form Vno part 'of the present invention,but may. be of 'any conventional design and arrangement.

The forward end of the engine 24 "is lsecurely bolted to 'a 'supportingplate 65, 'which extends transversely between the tubular` frame'members 22 and is rigidly 'welded thereto. similarly, the rear end ofthe 'transmission housing 25 is 'se- 5 cure-d; as by' toiture, .to atransverse 4suppeitin-g plate 66, which is rigidly Welded to the tubularmembers 22 in rearwardly spaced relation to the supporting plate 65. Theclutch housing 56 has a -portion integrally formed with the verticaltransverse web 28 of the support casting 26 and also with a pair ofhorizontal flange portions 61 which are integral with the web 218 andthe gear housings 29.

Directly above the transmission housing 25, just behind the internalcombustion engine 24, is a fuel tank 10, supported on front and rearlaterally spaced legs 1I, 12, which are mounted on the sleeve portions21 of the castings 26 and on the two frame members 22 behind the sleeveportions 21, respectively. The seat 60 ismounted on a spring support 13which is carried on top of the fuel tank 10.

A radiator 15 is provided for cooling water of the engine 24 and isdisposed vertically behind the seat 60 and fuel tank 10 and is mountedon brackets 16, which are secured, as by Welding, to the two tubularframe members, 22, respectively. The radiator 15 is provided with anupper reservoir 11, disposed immediately behind the seat 60. The hoseconnections between the radiator and the engine 24 are omitted for thesake of slmplicity, since they do not comprise a part of the presentinvention. A fan 18 is mounted directly in front of the radiator 15 on ashaft 19, which extends forwardly beneath the fuel tank 10 and isprovided at its forward end with a pulley 80, over which a belt 8| istrained and extends downwardly through the apertures- 82 in the top ofthe transmission housing 25 and is driven by the flywheel 55.

A U-shaped drawbar 85 is pivotally connected by transversely alignedbolts 86 to a transverse member 81 extending across the bottom of thepower unit 23 and is vertically adjustable about the axis of the bolts86. The drawbar 85 is adapted to be connected to the tongue 81 of atrailing implement, by means of a draft pin 88, which extends verticallythrough aligned apertures in a pair of connectors 89, 90, rigidly fixedto the drawbar 85 and the tongue 81', respectively.

The power unit 23 is provided with a pair of forwardly and rearwardlyextending power takeoff shafts 9|, 92, which are suitably connected tobe driven by the engine 24 for supplying power to implements ahead of orbehind the traction wheels, respectively.

Thus, it will be evident that the device thus far described comprises atwo Wheeled unstable power unit, which is approximately balanced aboutthe transverse axis of the wheels 39 and which has a forwardly andrearwardly projecting frame 2|.

A dirigible wheeled truck supports the forward end of the tractor frame2| (Figures l and 2) and comprises a pair of ground engageable wheelsIOI, which are set comparatively close together on opposite sides of thecenter line of the tractor and are journaled on a steering post |02 forrotation in planes which diverge upwardly and outwardly, as is common ingeneral purpose farm tractors. The two wheels |0| are adapted to travelbetween a pair of crop rows during operation in a field, and thetraction wheels 39 are spaced to Straddle the same two rows, as is wellknown to those skilled in the art.

The steering post I 02 is mounted on a supporting casting or frameportion |03, to which is fixed a pair of parallel members or frame parts|04, which are inserted into the forward ends of the two paralleltubular frame members 22, respectively, and extend into the latter intelescoping relation. The top of each of the members |04 is providedwith rack teeth |05, which are engaged by a pinion |06, best shown inFigure 2, mounted on a transverse shaft |01, which is journaled in.apair of pinion housings |08, the latter being mounted on the twotubular frame members 22, respectively. The two pinions |06 are rigidlyxed to the shaft |01 adjacent opposite ends thereof, so that by rotatingthe shaft; |01 the pinions drive the rack teeth on the truck members |04to shift the latter into or out of the tubular frame members 22,selectively. The shaft |01 is provided with a square end portion |09,which can be turned manually by means of any suitable wrench or crank,indi-cated in dotted lines by reference numeral I I0, which is used toadjust the dirigible wheeled truck |00 fore and aft relative to thetraction wheels 39 to adjust the wheel base of the tractor, after whichthe crank I|0 can be removed and stored in any convenient location. Thedirigible wheeled truck |00 is secured in longitudinally adjustedposition by meansI of set screws III threaded into suitable openings inthe tops of the pinion housings |08 and engageable with the teeth of thepinions |06 to prevent rotation of the latter.

Since the weight of the power unit 23 is concentrated on the reartraction Wheels 39, the dirigible truck |00 would be too lightly loadedto provide for satisfactory steering, without additional weight on thetruck |00 and it may be desirable to weight the front truck |00 by meansof a counterbalancing weight H5, which is fixed to a pair of parallelmembers adapted to be inserted into the forward ends of the paralleltruck mounting members |04, the latter being made tubular t0 receive themembers I|6. The latter are sufficiently long to permit the weight |I5to be shifted fore and aft relative to the dirigible wheeled truck |00,and the weight II5 is secured in longitudinally adjusted position bymeans of set screws ||1, which are inserted throughthreaded apertures inthe sides of the truck casting |03 and the tubular members |04 to engagethe members ||6. Thus, by shifting the weight H5 forwardly away from thedirigible truck |00, the moment arm of the weight II5 is increased,thereby tending to have an increased eect in holding the wheels |0| downagainst the ground. However, when the truck |00 is adjusted forwardlyaway from the traction wheels 39 to obtain a longer wheel base, theweight of the truck |00 is thus extended to a longer moment arm toincrease its resistance against upward movement away from the ground,and therefore the weight ||5 vcan be adjusted inwardly toward the truck|00, or can even be omitted entirely.

The steering of the dirigible truck |00 is under control of a steeringwheel |20 mounted on a steering shaft I2 I disposed ahead of theoperators seat 60. The lower end of the steering shaft I2| is connectedby a conventional gear mechanism within a casing I|22 mounted on thetransverse supporting plate 65, with a forwardly extending generallyhorizontal tubular shaft portion |23 of square cross section, which issuitably journaled in the case |22 at its rear end and is journaled in abearing |24 at its forward end. The bearing |24 is mounted on atransverse supporting plate I 25 rigidly xed to the forward ends of thetubular framemembers 22. The tubular shaft |23 is connected tothesteering post I 0 2 of the dirigible gmane truck by' means of a shaftportion |26' of square cross section, which is inserted into the forwardend of the tubular `shaft |23 and is slidable but non-rotatable therein.A bevel pinion |21 is mounted on the forward end of the square shaft |26and meshes with a bevel 'gear |28 fixed to the upper end of the steeringpost -|02. When the truck |00 is adjusted longitudinally vrelative, -tovthe frame members 22, the shafts |23, |26 are extended or contracted intelescoping .relation to maintain control lof the steering of the truck|00 by the -steering wheel |20.

When the tractor is to be used 'for cultivating, the truck |00 isshifted forwardly to a position, 'as illustrated in Figure i5. lThe'increased wheel base thus obtained, provides ample room for cultivatorrigs |30, which A'can be of any conventional -design, preferably one inwhich each 'rig is supported on a lpair of vertically Yspacedsubstantially parallel links |3`| connected between a vvertical bracket3'2 on the rig |30 Aand a bracket |33 on a transversely extending beam|34 secured to the casting |03 by bolts |35. Itwill be noted that withvthe steering 'wheel |0| and cultivator rig |30 positioned appreciablyahead of the traction wheels 39, the cultivators can be accuratelyguided along the -crop rows A'by the steering wheel to accommodate anyunevenness in the crop rows.

Referring now more particularly to Figure 6, the dirigi'ole wheeledtruck l|00 can be removed from the front Vends -of the tubular `members22 by sliding the parallel -members |04 out of the forward ends of themembers |22, and the truck |00 can 'be remounted on the rear ends of themembers 22 by inserting the members |04 therein. The rear ends of thetubular members V22 carry a pairof housings 08, within whichare disposeda similar1 pair of pinions |06 adjustable by means of a transverselshaft |01 having a squared end |09 adapted to receive lthe vadjustingcrank |`|0. Thus, the shaft |07 can be rotated to adjust the wheel baseof the tractor with the dirigible truck |00 spaced rearwardly fromthetraction'wheels in a manner similar to that described above, in whichthe truck |00 was Y'adjustable longitudinally at the Yforward end of thetractor frame 2 I .Y With the truck |00 at the 'rear `of the tractor,the steering-shaft portion '|26 is insertable into 'a longitudinallyextending tubular control shaft `portion i |40 of square cross section,which is Vjournaled `at its rear end in a bearing |4| mounted on Yatransverse supporting plate |25-xed Ito the rear end of the tubularmembers 22. The forward end of the control shaft is journaled inabearing f T43, which is rigidly mounted on the web 28 of the casting25. A bevel ,gear L|134 (see Figure 3) is mounted on the -forward endofthe Atubular shaft |40 and meshes witha'bevelgear 4|45 which is xed toa shaft `|"46 Ajournaled ina forwardly extending web I''l yformedintegrally Ywith the web 2'8 of the casting 25. A Asecond bevel 'gear"|48is xed to the opposite end of 'theshaft |46 and meshes with a bevelgear '|49 mounted on 'the rear end kof a shaft |50 which is journaled ina bearing |-5| carried on one of theframe members 22. The shaft |50extends forwardly v'along -one side of the engine 24 and is journaled at`its forward end in a bearing |52 mounted on the transverse plate '65.The l:forward end ofthe shaft |50 'carries a bevel gear |53 which mesheswith a gear |54 carried on a shaft |55 Vwhich is .journaled in an arm|56 secured to the transverseplate65. The vshaft |55 is connected 4tothe tubularshaft g| 23 of square'V cross section Iluy-means of a l.pairof intermeshing' bevel vgears |51, |58. Thus, it will be evident thatthe steering -wheel |20 is connected to .both the forwardly andrearwardly vextending tubular shafts |23, |40 in order that thedirigible wheels |0| `can .be controlled by the steering wheel |20 ineither the front or rear positions.

With the dirigible wheels |0| positioned rearwardly vof the tractionwheels, it will be evident to those skilled in the art that square turnscan be made yby the tractor for the purposes explained hereinabove.

.In the interest of safety, I have provided a pair of transverselyextending ground engageable shoes mounted fat the front and rear endsolf thelframe members 22, respectively, and rigidly secured thereto. Itwill be noted that the frame members extend .forwardly and rearwardly asufficient distance to cause one of the shoes |60 to engage the groundin case .the weight of the dirigible truck `|00 is .insufficient toprevent the tractor "from tipping in either position of the truck |00,or in case the tractor should tip when the truck '|00 is removed fromthe tractor frame.

I do Vnot intend my invention to :be limited to the particular detailsshown and described herein, except as set forth :by theclairns whichfollow.

I claim:

l. In a tractor having a longitudinal main frame ineludingfront and rearend portions and -a lpower plant and traction unit supporting the frameintermediate its ends, the improvement comprising: asteernble support,having a longitudinal 'frame partcooperative in telescoping re lationwith the main frame at either 'the front or rear end of the latter;steering control means on the power plant and rtraction unit main frame,4including an operative shaft element extending longitudinally Aof themain frame and having rfront and rear end portions respectivelyproximate to front and rear end portions of thevmain frame; and asteering control part on fthe steerable support cooperative intelescoping relation with the shaft element lat either end portion ofthe former, according to the position of the steerable support.

2. In a tractorhaving a power plant and traction -unit including frontand rear ends and having thereon an operators station provided with asteering control member, the improvement comprising: means providing aitthe front end of thepower plant and traction unit a pair of laterallyspaced, forwardly extending frame elements; means providing at the rearend of said unit a pair of similar llaterally spaced but rearwardlyextending frame elements; means on said unit `operatively connectedv tothe steering control member and including a front shaft por- "tion Aanda rear shaftportion projecting respectively forwardly and rearwardlybetween the respective frame elements; and a steerable ground- 'engagingrolling support including a frame portion having a pair of laterallyspaced, longitudinally projecting frame parts receivable in supportedrelationship selectively by either of the 4aforesaid front or rear frameelements and a longitudinal shaft portion disposed between the 'frameparts'andoperatively receivable selectively by either vof theaforesaidgfront or rear shaft Aportions on the power Yplant and-tractionunit.

3. The invention defined in claim 2, further vcharacterized in that:each pair of frame eleehaving provision 'for longitudinal adjustmentwhether the rolling support is positioned at either the front or rearend of the'power plant and tractionfunit; and both shaft portions on thepower plant and traction unit and the shaft portion on the rollingsupport having provision for 1ongitudinal adjustment to accommodatelongitudinal adjustment of the frame elements and frame parts.

4. The invention dened in claim 2, further characterized in that: thefront and rear frame elements are respectively at front and rear ends ofa pair of parallel, continuous tubular members, and the traction unithas means thereon rigidly xing said members in position; the frame partsof the rolling support are selectively receivable telescopically by thefront or rear ends of said members; and means is provided for nxing theframe parts in position at either pair of ends of said members.

THEOPHILUS BROWN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Number Name Date Marx Aug. 4, 1914 GentleSept. 21, 1915 Simpson Apr. 25, 1916 Fairman Dec. 26, 1916 Mehrings Jan.2, 1917 Olerich July 23, 1918 Brown Aug. 6, 1918 Leadbeater Sept. 3,1918 Fawver Oct. 19, 1920 Schon et al Jan. 27, 1925 Newton-Clare Apr. 6,1926 Carlson Sept. 13, 1932 Brown Nov. 7, 1933 Ronning Aug. 17, 1937Sloane Jan. 12, 1943 Fulton Apr. 24, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Country DateFrance July 5, 1906 Great Britain Jan. 20, 1939 France Jan. 3, 1928Germany Nov. 19, 1938 France Feb. 7, 1938

